FEATURE


GOING FOR GOLD


Aine Mulcahy is Managing Director of OCS Ireland, provider of accessibility and mobility in


airports and sponsor of Paralympics Ireland. Ahead of the BIFM Ireland Summit this month, we find out more about accessibility in FM and why it’s our job to lead by example.


Paralympics Ireland is sponsored by OCS Ireland and has a working relationship with the BIFM Ireland Summit, which takes place 25th November 2016 at Croke Park, Dublin. This year, OCS assisted Paralympics Ireland in transporting athletes from Dublin to Rio in an accessibility- friendly manner. As there is no direct flight from Dublin to Rio, OCS tapped into their global network to get the 48 Irish Paralympians from A to B as simply as possible.


In celebration of the successful collaboration, Tomorrow’s FM caught up with Aine to find out more about the relationship between FM and accessibility and why it’s so important to keep moving forward and raising awareness.


TFM AM TFM AM


How long have you been at OCS Ireland?


I’ve been with them for four years.


How did you get into the field of FM and accessibility?


Well OCS is a facilities management business , so


my background was in FM, and OCS have a niche market here in Ireland in terms of global aviation, whereby they provide the PRM (passengers with reduced mobility) services with access to international airports. We provide all the PRM services for Cork and Dublin airports here, so that was my introduction to accessibility within an FM environment.


TFM


What does accessibility in a transport environment involve?


16 | TOMORROW’S FM AM


All our staff are trained to be disability confident. We have


specially designed reception desks to allow easy access, and we look at a range of bespoke mobility equipment and engage with disability user groups. We give special attention to the little things, like business cards and information booklets in Braille, which are really important.


TFM AM


How do you account for the needs of PRMs?


There are over 25 million passengers going through


Dublin airport each year; naturally a large proportion of those people would need assistance, so it’s really about taking it to the next stage to see what the actual building needs to be more accomodating: what accessible car parking is there? How big should the spaces be? What sort of height clearance is needed?


You also have to think about crossing points, dashed curbs and tactile paving for the visually impaired, what is the gradient of ramps in and out of buildings? What back and arm rest heights are needed? And of course colour contrast for the visually impaired is highly important. If you’re non-disabled you don’t necessarily think of things like that.


We’re in the early stages of looking at door designs and wheelchair accessible reception desks and using colour contrasts for things like lifts and toilets. It starts off as a business providing a service to a client, but it massively opens up your awareness; we have about 2,800 staff in Ireland,


”WE GIVE SPECIAL


ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS, LIKE BUSINESS CARDS


AND INFORMATION BOOKLETS IN BRAILLE.“


so we have a huge impact on people’s daily lives across the country, and you don’t even realise it. A lot of companies are concentrating on their core business and they’re relying on their FM teams to come in with suggestions to help them with their accessibility culture and governance.


TFM AM


Are you noticing more people are approaching you for advice then?


I am yes; I think legislation has played a huge part in this,


especially in Europe. The Building Regulations Act from 2000 and 2006 has had a massive effect, and that was a decade ago, it’s old legislation really, that people just weren’t aware of. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was in 2007; Ireland has signed up to that; it’s not yet ratified, but it’s a guiding document that we use to educate our clients.


The other angle to look at here is the legal implications; you don’t


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